14 Overlooked Tech Stories Of 2022 More People Need To Know About

Each day, thousands of stories about new technologies and the tech industry are published by a variety of news outlets across the globe. It’s an influx of information no single person could possibly keep up with, even if they’re immersed in the technology industry. While a handful of tech-related stories reach the worldwide consciousness each year, many more “fly under the radar”—even some that may heavily impact how we live and work.

From changes to privacy and security standards to new developments in energy to unprecedented achievements in artificial intelligence, several of 2022’s fascinating tech stories may have gone unnoticed by both industry leaders and the public. Below, the members of Forbes Technology Council share their selections for the 2022 tech stories they believe more people should be paying attention to, and why.

1. The Need For Shared Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

To deliver on today’s consumer data privacy standards, privacy-enhancing technologies created by location technology companies must be made available to all. Democratizing access to these technologies provides a way for any organization that handles consumer data to feel confident about addressing concerns around the use of consumer data, especially data generated at sensitive locations. – Jeff White, Gravy Analytics

2. Changes To Apple’s Tracking Permissions

Many businesses have noticed that their Facebook ads in 2022 are far less effective than they used to be and that prices are higher for their businesses. Apple made changes to how advertisers can track iPhone users, and browsers are trending toward increasing privacy. This is a major tech trend that is changing how businesses large and small can best connect with prospective customers. – Tod Loofbourrow, ViralGains

3. Resistance To Digital Transformation Among Younger Workers

Younger workers—who have been particularly vulnerable to pandemic isolation, a volatile social and economic climate, and unusual demand for their skills and time—are delaying digital transformation for organizations. Tenured tech leaders may be blind to these factors, which have combined to the detriment of team-oriented communication, relationships and problem-solving skills. – Ricardo Madan, TEKsystems

4. Tech Giants’ Return To In-Office Work

Distributed teams are a rising trend. However, while many companies are still in transition or are adapting to embrace remote-first work models, tech giants are calling employees back to offices despite them doing an excellent job remotely. The rise of hybrid models has meant that distributed teams gained momentum globally, and companies should adapt to the new reality, embracing a “work from anywhere” policy ahead of a return to the office. – Sergiu Matei, Index

5. New Developments In Memristors

The development of memristors—next-generation electrical circuits—has been pretty low-key for a long time, but they are now being actively developed. They are potentially far more energy-efficient, integrated circuits that remember information and have the capability to learn from past behaviors. Memristors can produce new ways of computing at the nanoscale, with faster and denser computational power—yet they get very little attention. – Arthur Miller, equipifi

6. Small Modular Reactors

Small modular reactors that produce nuclear power are vastly underrated. If we are to reduce greenhouse gases while satisfying the increasing demand for electricity, SMRs will be a key technology in bridging the gap between fossil fuel and renewable energy. They are highly affordable and can be installed on-site, which makes them suitable for areas that can’t house traditional nuclear power plants. – Roland Polzin, Wing Assistant

7. The Responsible Growth Movement Among Software Teams

While the economic shift is on everybody’s radar, the mindset change of software teams from “growing at all costs” to “growing responsibly” is impacting every single team—without a new playbook. Focusing inward and looking for clever ways to produce value in a sustainable manner is top of mind. Improving the developer experience to increase efficiency is an up-and-coming trend that’s gaining awareness. – Maya Mandel, Helios

8. The Power Of Crowdsourcing

In 2022, we saw several cases of the impact of communities and the power of crowdsourcing. These have included the GameStop stock cases, the rise of meme crypto coins (purely driven by communities), Nike and Adidas leveraging communities to drive nonfungible token revenue models, and viral game platforms such as Roblox. Individuals and companies have yet to harness the full power of the community-driven business model. – Nitin Kumar, zblocks

9. Increasing Interest In First-Party Data

Skyrocketing interest in first-party data is a major story that deserves more attention. Across industries—from retail to art to events—executives are realizing that intrusive targeting strategies such as third-party cookies are unsustainable. They’re coming to understand that first-party data is the best alternative for ensuring accurate, meaningful personalization—without risking consumers’ personally identifiable information. – Alexandre Robicquet, Crossing Minds

10. New Tech Developments In Healthcare

While everyone is focused on inflation, the entire healthcare industry has been quietly evolving. You may have heard about Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs taking on big pharma. Beyond that, care networks are implementing digital health technologies enabling innovation in patient intake, data-driven decisions and DTC medicine. This tech will soon transform the way all of us experience healthcare. – Nicholas Domnisch, EES Health

11. Quantum Computing

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize the way we solve problems and could have a significant impact on fields such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. While there is still a lot of research to be done in this area, quantum computing is something that more people should be paying attention to. – Sean Toussi, Glo3D Inc.

12. The Strain On Cloud Providers

The major cloud providers are seeing so much demand that at times they struggle with building data centers fast enough to maintain a sufficient supply of computing resources. This means enterprises must better plan for new deployments and ensure the resources are available and allocated on their chosen cloud platform before they begin a migration or new implementation. – Husein Sharaf, Cloudforce

13. The Need For Passwordless Solutions

In my opinion, one key tech story in 2022 that has flown under the radar is the importance and criticality of implementing passwordless solutions within mission-critical and highly sensitive platforms and products. This is one of the most critical solutions in the information security sector; it has huge benefits in significantly improving one of the weakest components of a product. – Mark Schlesinger, Broadridge Financial Solutions

14. AI’s Use For Art And Content Creation

In 2022, an artist used an artificial intelligence tool to create a piece of digital artwork that won a fine arts competition at the Colorado State Fair. I think the influence AI is going to have on the creative process has been underestimated. AI-based content creation is going to be massive. Microsoft has already announced that DALL-E 2 is being leveraged by Microsoft Designer (a Canva competitor) to help iterate on designs—that should just be the beginning. – Matt Berseth, NLP Logix